this is bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm rich preston. the headlines: will it be messi's moment, or a big day for mbappe, as argentina takes on france in the world cup final? excitement on two continents — we look at how fans in paris and buenos aires are getting ready for the big match. china sees a sharp increase in coronavirus cases days after beijing eased restrictions following a wave of protests. the iranian film actress taraneh alidoosti is arrested as anti—government protests continue in iran for a fourth month. singing. and, ukraine's 2023 entry

for eurovision: tvorchi chosen in a live show from a kyiv bomb shelter. hello and welcome to bbc news. the countdown is under way to the men's world cup final in qatar, with just ten hours to go before kick off. argentina will face france. both sides have won the trophy twice before and both sides have also lost a match, during the group stages, on their way to the final. this is the scene live in doha. it looks like it will be another warm, dry day. temperatures of around 25 celsius today, that's 77 farenheit. we'll hear from the fans in france injust a moment but we start our coverage with katy watson in buenos aires.

there is a lot of emotion here ahead of the big game and an awful line riding on the final. the happiness of a nation. i have spoken to people and time and time again they say it is and time again they say it is an economically battered country. they have been hoping them to win because to keep them to win because to keep them happy. ispoke them to win because to keep them happy. i spoke to a woman who burst into tears and said they needed it for the country. the person they are backing is lionel messi, they say him as the greatest under trinity and at the moment. they want him to win because it is his last world cup —— greatest argentinian. they need this winter. both sides boast one of the greats of the men's game.

for argentina's lionel messi, this could be the last time he plays in a world cup. but for france, the defending champions will hope that kylian m'bappe, part of the winning side in russia, and just 23 years old, turns out to be the star in the final. and as an intriguing subplot the two players are teammates at their club, paris saint germain. lucy williamson reports. for french footballers, team loyalty is a way to win matches. for french fans, it's a way of life. for guillaume, practising his game near paris this week, not even argentina can shake his faith in the national side. nothing, no fear, because i know that they are the best team in the world and that will never change. i'm only 19 years old, and i could see see my country win a second world cup. at this age it's pretty incredible, so yeah, it definitely means something. argentina's star player, lionel messi, already knows how the french play football.

his dayjob is scoring goals for this french club. this match will pitch two of france's footballing heroes against each other. kylian mbappe and lionel messi usually both play for the paris club paris saint—germain. but today they'll be facing each other on opposing sides, mbappe as france's star striker, messi as argentina's. in the bar next to the paris ground, there is anxiety ahead of today's game. the french know how messi plays football too. i'm super tense because we saw what argentina did. and they have a mission — it's to win. but france has a mission, too — it's win twice! so does france have what it takes? translation: of course, kylian mbappe, for sure. l he's younger, he's faster. everything is possible. translation: it's going to be a battle because it's the only l title messi doesn't have. we can tell they're nervous. they want to win the world cup,

we want to win the world cup too. oh, the baguette is winning, the baguette is winning! - all sing. french pride and confidence have grown with every win in this tournament, the chant ringing across paris after their semifinal win, "we're in the final". one game now stands between france and glory. 11 men who carried the hopes of this nation to qatar are within sight of carrying the trophy back home. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. in saturday's third—place playoff match, croatia beat morocco by two goals to one. croatia opened the scoring after seven minutes with this header from josko g'vardiol

who just managed to keep the ball inside the morocco equalised two minutes later — another header, this time after a rebound off a defender — achraf dari scoring. but this shot, in off the post from mislav osic, just before half time, turned out to be the winner for croatia. all of that means croatia, beaten finalists last time, take the bronze medal home from qatar. so, here are the details of the big game. and if you want the full story of all of the qatar world cup ups and down�*s — just go to our website — bbc.com/news — or check out the bbc app. china is seeing a sharp rise in positive covid cases, just 10 days after suddenly easing its strict lockdown measures following a wave of protests, with the capital, beijing, being one of the worst affected areas. in china's largest city, shanghai, officials have

ordered most of its schools to take classes online as covid cases soar. our reporter, ijoema ndukwe, reports. cars bearing the dead line the driveway of this crematorium assigned for covid—i9 deaths. it is among dozens of such facilities across the capital, beijing, struggling to meet a spike in demand, days after china began to relax its pandemic protocols. workers and drivers at funeral homes have been calling in sick, as the disease spreads across the city, adding to a shortage of labour. the number of covid cases has not been confirmed, but according to an informal survey by chinese search engine baidu, 70% of beijing, a city of 22 million people, is infected. they stopped counting asymptomatic cases, there has also been a transition to use

of antigen tests which are not associated with the laboratory, they are being done at home so just like the issues we've been having in the united states and globally, when you switch to antigen tests you don't have that situational awareness so our best bet is going to be understanding what is happening in the hospitals. meanwhile, in china's largest city, shanghai, officials have ordered most schools to take classes online as covid cases soar. nurseries and childcare centres will close from monday, according to the education bureau. the authorities have stepped up vaccinations, including the option of inhalable boosters to speed up distribution. however, a past emphasis on lockdowns, rather than vaccinations, means that older people are at risk. sufficiently vaccinated is the question, and unfortunately that is a relatively low percentage, particularly with elderly people. and, you know, to understand why, i think in the time of severe lockdowns, we have had nearly three years of china being severely locked down and that was the containment

measure, so people had a sort of false sense of security. there are concerns that china's health infrastructure is not equipped to deal with the rapid rise in patients. analysts say chaos and confusion have followed the country's abrupt decision to drop its controversial zero covid policy. and it is still unclear how authorities will get to grips with this current surge in infections. ijoema ndukwe, bbc news. well, earlier we spoke to eric feigl ding, an epidemiologist and co—founder of the world health network. originally from shanghai, butjoined us live from washington dc. he told us about how his family there are coping and the latest developments there. there is definitely concern because shanghai, for example, not only are hospitals being strained, but there are a lot of worries, a lot of my elderly relatives are very worried and a lot of my cousins, some of them are teachers, also worried.

they had to close all schools, they just announced, basically for the next month until mid—january. so there is a lot of concern in shanghai and i think it is also justifiable concern because if you look at where china is going, and now we have very little mitigation, china is under—vaccinated, i think china is headed towards a couple of hundred million infections and likely millions of deaths and potentially economic fallout from this in 2023 next year. so with your professional hat on, why is china unravelling its zero—covid policy so quickly? could it have not done this at a more measured pace? i think they were trying to do it in a more measured pace. obviously the protests, i understand people are very tired of them, the protests accelerated the timeline. i think was eventually

going to be a matter of when, not if, china released, because china was already planning to relax its international flight rules in october, way ahead of any of the protests had started. i think china was hoping to roll out its inhaled mucosal vaccine, the vaccine in which you inhale it from a cup. that is, i think, their linchpin but the rollout of these inhaled mucosal vaccines which are potentially one of the game changing vaccines that is way more effective than the muscular vaccines we have been having, it has been very slow and china was originally hoping to wait a few more months before that was happening but now that they released a lot of these measures, these relaxation measures, in the middle of winter, china does have a winter as well, it is still pretty severe, it is basically a perfect storm right now. in other parts of the world where covid has been allowed to spread, we've seen the virus evolve and we have seen these

different mutations and different variants. in china, where it has not been allowed to spread, are they seeing these variants or are they seeing a more original strain? the original strain is almost extinct. they are seeing different omicron subvariants, bf.7 which is a subtype of ba.5. china has not rolled out en masse any updated boosters, unlike the us and many european countries, although in the uk for example, they have been using ba.i bivalent which is also very outdated. so i think the issue is that the virus has mutated substantially and the vaccines currently are just not, the muscular vaccines are just not very good against infection anymore against omicron. they are still good and decent against hospitalisation but china has a very low booster rate especially in the elderly and i think the mucosal vaccines are not rolled out enough.

the thing is, masks, n95s masks, are underused in china. masks are a variant diagnostic and china isjust not using the ventilation air disinfection aspect. these are also very key pillars of controlling covid, notjust testing and notjust reliant on vaccines, because we know those strategies are not enough by itself, especially against these new, highly invasive, omicron subvariants. in iran, the well—known film actress taraneh alidoosti has been arrested, as anti—government protests continue into a fourth month. an iranian news agency said ms alidoosti, who's best known for her starring role in the oscar—winning iranian film, the salesman,

was detained for publishing what it called false and distorted content and inciting chaos. the bbc�*s azaday moshiri reports. she is one of the most prominent actresses in iran, a woman making headlines and this is why she has been caught in the islamic republic crosshairs. taraneh alidoosti has shown support for protesters before. she showed a picture of yourself without our hijab carrying the words woman, life, freedom. this time she has been made an example of, and been arrested for what state media has said spreading falsehoods, after she condemned the hanging of one of the two men executed of what human rights people say our sham trials. taraneh alidoosti

wrote:. earlierthis trials. taraneh alidoosti wrote:. earlier this week, the us state department condemned the mass arrests. irate us state department condemned the mass arrests.— the mass arrests. we are ureatl the mass arrests. we are greatly concerned - the mass arrests. we are greatly concerned that i greatly concerned that authorities reportedly continued to kill more of their own people in an effort to suppress peaceful protest, protest we're seeing being led by women and girls and the youth of iran. we also are deeply about reports of mass arrests, sham trials are now death sentences being handed down to protesters and carried out as well. down to protesters and carried out as well-— out as well. iran's protests were sparked _ out as well. iran's protests were sparked by _ out as well. iran's protests were sparked by the - out as well. iran's protests were sparked by the death | out as well. iran's protests i were sparked by the death of out as well. iran's protests - were sparked by the death of a protester in september and now they are facing one of the most violent phases of the crackdown on many protesters are still being killed by forces or dying under questionable circumstances like aida rostami. she was a young

physician treating protesters who were too scared to go to hospital. earlierthis who were too scared to go to hospital. earlier this week, police returned her body to her family, bruised and mutilated. when the protest began, taraneh alidoosti said she would not leave her country, no matter the risks she is taking, a sentiment echoed by young protesters in the chanting. with its violent response, the islamic republic is testing their resolve. azaday moshiri, bbc news. the wave of strikes which have hit the uk look set to intensify, with pay agreements yet to be struck to bring most of them to an end. nursing unions are threatening to increase their walkouts in the new year,and the government is planning to deploy the military to cover industrial action by ambulance drivers and border force operatives. here's our uk political correspondent iain watson. with christmas just a week away there is still not very much

goodwill between government and unions, more strikes seemed set to go ahead. nurses in many parts of england, wales and northern ireland intend to strike on tuesday and the levers being taken on wednesday, and the government says its priority is to keep people safe. its drafting in 600 armed forces personnel to drive ambulances, the regular crews will still respond to life—threatening emergencies. advice from nhs leaders is for hospitals to move patients out of any as quickly as possible so they can have capacity to reduce ambulance delays. hospital trusts believe that is easier said than done.- hospital trusts believe that is easier said than done. most of our hospitals _ easier said than done. most of our hospitals have _ easier said than done. most of our hospitals have patients - our hospitals have patients that don't need to be there but can't get up because they don't have the social care of the community packages for them, so getting people out of emergency is already a major challenge for the health service, and for that challenge to become even more acute during the strike daysis more acute during the strike days is bound to generate real risks. ., .,

risks. the government will hold two meetings — risks. the government will hold two meetings of _ risks. the government will hold two meetings of emergency - risks. the government will hold | two meetings of emergency me, committee to co—ordinated response to the latest wave of industrial action the health union says it wants to stop the strikes and health ministers need to move urgently. the army actionable will _ need to move urgently. the army actionable will do _ need to move urgently. the army actionable will do the _ need to move urgently. the army actionable will do the best - need to move urgently. the army actionable will do the best job - actionable will do the bestjob they can, but they are no substitute for having trained healthcare professionals sent out on calls, and the public know that, so this is no resolution to the strikes themselves, or the causes that are underlying the strikes, and the government would be far better served setting down with trade unions are talking not just about how to avert the strikes, but how to tackle the underlying causes. the government _ underlying causes. the government is - underlying causes. the government is urged . underlying causes. the| government is urged to negotiate the government's pay and after choosing to strike the nurses union will give ministers 48 hours to open pay talks, otherwise, more widespread action forjanuary

will be announced, and the health unions are considering raising their health actions to military personnel will also be deployed to conduct passport checks when border forces staff go on strike for the government �*s warning of significant delays and disruption for travellers. the government says fair and reasonable payoff — offices up to be made, but relations with the union continued to be frosty, and the outlook for resolving disputes remains bleak. ian watson, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. in north africa, tunisia's main opposition parties have called on the president to resign. that's after under 9% of people voted in an election for a new national assembly. the new assembly was part of a series of political changes made by president kais saied which his critics denounced as a coup. the opposition coalition says he's lost any legitimacy to govern. a man has been charged with the murders of a woman and her two young children in kettering in northamptonshire in the english east midlands.

officers were called to an address on thursday and found anju asok, jeeva saju, and janvi saju with serious injuries. they died a short time later. 52—year—old saju chelavaloh will appear in court on monday. in south america, peru's embattled new president, dina boluarte, has ruled out resigning, saying doing so would not solve the political crisis in the country, sparked by the impeachment of her predecessor, pedro castillo. she's also asked for congress to pass legislation to bring forward an election as a way to stop the ongoing protests that have so far claimed more than 20 lives. police in germany say they've recovered some of the precious items stolen during the country's biggest ever art heist three years ago. it happened at the green vault museum in the eastern city of dresden. gareth barlow reports: it was the robbery that shocked germany back in 2019, as masked men forced their way into the green vault museum

inside dresden castle and left with priceless pieces from the collection of the saxon ruler augustus the strong. to get to the jewels, they had started a fire nearby to cause a power outage, then cut through iron bars to get inside the museum. the lost treasure included a diamond—encrusted sword and a series of i8th—century pins and necklaces. will local police vowed get the jewels back but, despite their best efforts, the trail went cold. translation: what's the chance of finding this treasure again? - we showed ourselves always decidedly optimistic, but now i can be honest — it was a bit of a fib. the longer the investigations lasted, the more our confidence melted. therefore, we are very happy to be here right now. and right now the whole case has flipped, with police saying most of the items have been recovered in berlin, but not all of them, after information came to light during an ongoing trial. around 40 people were thought

to be part of the heist, with six members of a known crime syndicate facing charges for it currently. the exact details of the deal made with prosecutors were kept secret, but a total of 31 items are now on their way back to dresden, where they will be examined by experts to confirm their authenticity and where security are sure to be confirming some new security measures. on saturday evening, a metro station turned bomb shelter was put to a more unlikely use, stating ukraine's competition to choose a song the next year's eurovision song contest. it cannot host the event, instead that will be hosted in liverpool and ukraine will be represented by a pop duo.

ukraine takes eurovision seriously. the war did not get in the way of this live show, down the stairs is a key of metro station. transformed into a bomb shelter when russia invaded, president zielinski has used one nearby before to address the public. from a bunker, to a tv studio. the decision — bunker, to a tv studio. the decision to _ bunker, to a tv studio. the decision to go _ bunker, to a tv studio. tue: decision to go underground bunker, to a tv studio. tte: decision to go underground was the first one that was taken, and it dictated ourfurther steps of organisation because no matter if we have air raid alerts or any other security challenges, still, the worker can continue. congratulations ukraine! ukraine _ can continue. congratulations ukraine! ukraine knows- can continue. congratulations ukraine! ukraine knows how. can continue. congratulations. ukraine! ukraine knows how to win, first entering _ ukraine! ukraine knows how to win, first entering eurovision i win, first entering eurovision in 2003 and has what it three times since. it sent emotional ballads... and ones that know

how to entertain. the ballads. .. and ones that know how to entertain.— ballads... and ones that know how to entertain. the winner of the eurovision _ how to entertain. the winner of the eurovision subtest - how to entertain. the winner of the eurovision subtest 2022 - how to entertain. the winner of the eurovision subtest 2022 is l the eurovision subtest 2022 is ukraine! �* . , the eurovision subtest 2022 is ukraine! �* ., , , the eurovision subtest 2022 is ukraine! �* , , ., �*, ukraine! but it was this year's victory. three _ ukraine! but it was this year's victory, three months - victory, three months after russia invaded that emphasised to europe supported. t’m russia invaded that emphasised to europe supported.— to europe supported. i'm really roud to europe supported. i'm really proud that i _ to europe supported. i'm really proud that i am _ to europe supported. i'm really proud that i am ukrainian. - to europe supported. i'm really proud that i am ukrainian. give us two dreams, _ proud that i am ukrainian. give us two dreams, for _ proud that i am ukrainian. give us two dreams, for ukraine to win, _ us two dreams, for ukraine to win, and— us two dreams, for ukraine to win, and to _ us two dreams, for ukraine to win, and to visit the concert, and — win, and to visit the concert, and we — win, and to visit the concert, and we came from dorset especially today for this concert. especially today for this concert-— especially today for this concert. , . ., , concert. the band had been fl in: concert. the band had been flying the — concert. the band had been flying the blue _ concert. the band had been flying the blue and - concert. the band had been flying the blue and yellow l concert. the band had been i flying the blue and yellow flag across europe ever since, performing to thousands. translation: it's very important to represent our country, and show our ukrainian culture to the colours in music

and to some extent to revive it. , ., and to some extent to revive it. , . , _, , . it. they have become music ambassadors, _ it. they have become music ambassadors, at _ it. they have become music ambassadors, at a - it. they have become music ambassadors, at a time - it. they have become music ambassadors, at a time of i it. they have become music- ambassadors, at a time of pain, they brought pride that support clearly continues but it's now time to hang their eurovision button on in time for next year's eurovision contest. me year's eurovision contest. we want to say — year's eurovision contest. - want to say thank you to everyone who supported us, listened to the music and who is fighting on the frontline, because it is important. we will try to do everything to present ukraine with dignity in liverpool. present ukraine with dignity in liverool. ,., ., , .,, liverpool. liverpool is hosting the son: liverpool. liverpool is hosting the song contest _ liverpool. liverpool is hosting the song contest in _ liverpool. liverpool is hosting the song contest in behalf - liverpool. liverpool is hosting the song contest in behalf of. the song contest in behalf of ukraine, and tvorchi's song ensures the country's boys will definitely be heard a loud and clear. there is much more on all the

stories on the bbc website, and you can reach me on twitter. i'm @richpreston. please do get in touch, and from all of us here, we will see you next time, goodbye. hello. as this cold snap comes to an end, we've some really unpleasant weather to get through during the course of sunday, at least for a time. some disruption due to freezing rain in places, really quite icy almost anywhere in the uk. some sleet and snow, but rain and wind too, all arriving with this quite threatening—looking area of cloud which is sweeping towards us as i speak. and within this area of storminess, you can see much milder air sweeping towards ireland and the south—west of england during the early hours of sunday. and it's on the leading edge of that transition between the cold and the mild that we have the weather front. now, ahead of it, it's still

freezing cold in the morning. city centre temperatures — minus four, minus five in places, a lot lower in the countryside, and then that rain willjust override that frozen ground. in places it'll be sleet and snow across the hills, but freezing rain possible, and an amber warning in force for northern parts of england. so rain falling on frozen ground — that could lead to very icy conditions, ice accumulating on pavements, on cars, on power lines as well. really quite dangerous. now, this is going to be around the peak district, the pennines, into yorkshire and possibly the cumbrian fells as well. but ice is possible, as i say, almost anywhere — not necessarily in the south—west and the west of the country. i think by the afternoon it will be a lot milder here. really quite blustery there in cornwall and devon, 12 degrees celsius. and then basically through the course of the evening into the night, the rain will come and go, the winds will be strong and it'll be turning milder and milder as we go into the early hours of monday morning. and then on monday, we've got this large area of low pressure over us still.

lots of isobars, so strong winds. the rain really could be quite heavy, particularly around western parts of the uk, welsh hills, cumbrian fells, western parts of scotland. i think the least amount of rainfall the further east you are. but look at those temperatures — positively balmy compared to what we've been having over the last couple of weeks or so — up to about 14 degrees, an extraordinary rise in temperature injust a short space of time. and as far as the week ahead is concerned, you can see it stays unsettled and generally on the mild side, with temperatures typically into double figures. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines: excited fans in argentina and france are counting down the hours to today's world cup final in doha. two of the game's great players, lionel messi of argentina and france's kylian mbappe, are also vying for the golden boot, the trophy for the tournament's top goal—scorer. china is seeing a sharp increase of positive covid cases, just 10 days after suddenly easing its strict lockdown measures following a wave of protests, with the capital beijing being one of the worst affected areas. in shanghai, officials have ordered most schools the award—winning iranian film actress taraneh alidoosti has been arrested after publicly

condemning the first execution of a protester in iran earlier this month.